God exalted Saint Joseph “to a dignity of extraordinary glory.”
I have been thinking about Saint Joseph the Foster Father of Christ.
How interesting a man he must have been. How fascinating a soul he must be.
God Himself chose Saint Joseph – of all the possible souls in the world – to live with Him in the form of God the Son.
In other words, Saint Joseph – though not sinless – was allowed to be in the “presence” of God Himself for a significant part of his Earthly life.
And this is a fascinating thing.
When I walk into a church, I genuflect. I face the Tabernacle – where the Body, Blood, Soul and Divinity of Christ is – in the form of the Most Blessed Eucharist – and I genuflect and bow my head and speak to God inside my heart respectfully for a moment.
While I am inside the Church, I try my best to control my thoughts and actions and to sin a little less. This is because I know that I am in the presence of God Himself, and being in that Holy Presence I feel that I am unable to speak in tones that go beyond a whisper. I feel that I must keep my thoughts controlled and dignified. I feel that I must control the weakness of my human flesh and mind.
And I am just a miserable little soul. I am not a soul who was chosen by God Himself to live in God’s own presence day and night for the remainder of my Earthly life. Saint Joseph was given that task.
And it is no easy thing to be the protector of the Blessed Eucharist and the keeper of the Tabernacle. Not only does that soul have to remain always respectful of God Himself, but he must guard those treasures – Christ, who is the Eucharist, and the Blessed Virgin, who is the Tabernacle as the Blessed Eucharist was formed inside her womb. And that means that he is responsible for moving them out of harm’s way. And he did that – leaving Bethlehem and later Egypt – but he would have done this in other ways as well. He would have moved his family away form people who were in a state of sin. He would have directed him family out of harm’s way when people were a danger to their spiritual and emotional state.
Edward Healy Thompson wrote that “Joseph’s virtue was sublime and exceptional; therefore it was subjected to a great and singular trial. But, as he heroically surmounted this trial, so God was pleased, not only to console him, but to exalt him to a dignity of extraordinary glory. … Jesus, the Son of God … willed to recognize this virgin spouse as His father in affection, adoption, government, and education, and to be constantly obedient and subject to him. The Holy Ghost, who had operated the incarnation of the Son of God in the womb of Mary, willed that to Joseph this His spouse should be entirely confided. He was to be the zealous guardian of her virginity, her guide, her aid, her support, and her inseparable companion through all the vicissitudes of life. And where, apart from the Divine Maternity, can so great a dignity be found upon earth as that which was conferred on Joseph by the Three Divine Persons of the Most Holy Trinity?”
For with prayer, I stand on Holy Ground where everything is clear. Here. At the Foot of the Cross.